Bad Bunny came out in support of Vice President Kamala Harris after a comedian who performed at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally insulted the island of Puerto Rico.
At Madison Square Garden, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.” Unsurprisingly, many Latinos expressed anger over the comment. Following the offensive comment, Puerto Rican celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin have condemned the event on social media.
Bad Bunny, who was born in Puerto Rico, claims that the comments affected him. He adds, “You go to Puerto Rico, you’re going to see how beautiful everything is.” Bad Bunny wasn’t done praising Puerto Rico because he recently published a tribute video to his 45 million followers on Instagram. He captioned the post “garbage,” but the video was everything but. The clip was shown at his concert in Puerto Rico in December 2021. It’s essentially a celebration of Puerto Rico, its people, and their contributions to the world.
Puerto Rico has produced some of the most brilliant athletes of all time. Celebrated athletes like baseball right fielder Roberto Clemente to multiple-time world champion boxer Miguel Cotto were mentioned in the video. Other pop culture icons like Ricky Martin, Lin Manuel Miranda, and even Miles Morales (yes, from the Spider-verse) got a shoutout in this heartfelt tribute. Of course, even Grammy Award winner Bad Bunny himself made a cameo by the end of this video. When folks like Hinchcliffe call Puerto Rico “trash,” these are the people he’s inevitably referring to.
A costly joke
The video has no subtitles, but it’s clear that the message is reaching Latinos. On Instagram, people were commenting in support of Bad Bunny. One commenter who claimed to be Latino was livid at the distasteful comment hurled against Puerto Rico. They commented, “Vamos Latinos. Have some pride. This is not America, this is vile hate.”
While the likes of JD Vance merely tell people to “stop getting so offended,” Latino voters could cost Vance-Trump the election. Pennsylvania alone has the fourth highest Puerto Rican population in the United States. While people in Puerto Rico proper couldn’t vote, migrants in crucial battleground states can. This “joke” undoubtedly dented Trump’s chances with Latino voters—and perhaps his second term in office.
Published: Oct 30, 2024 05:52 am